Don't ever try to get the line done in one go, trust me. I have done this many of times to hurry and get a line done; but your lines will sound so much better if you practice the line a few times before recording.
I have also failed at this many times. Unless you have an extremely dramatic character (Ex. Zim) you don’t have to put your entire soul into every single line.
From personal experience, I cringe at old cartoons of mine where I was el le quirky xd with everyline. Remember that voice acting is mainly dialogue and conversation, so unless the scene needs drama or humor, just speak normally in your character's voice.
It makes scenes so much better to understand, quirky doesn't always equal funny
If you talk too fast, the audience will keep rewinding, if you talk too slow, the audience will keep fast forwarding, meaning they may miss important scenes or cues.
If you’re trying to cram run time by talking too fast the audience will catch on, and if you talk too slow to fill in a run time the audience will also know. (This is actually called filler) unless it's needed, don’t worry about the episode’s run time (that's the writers job haha)
and just talk at a normal pace.
Oh boy, I’ve been a victim of this sometimes, too. If you got the line pat down don’t make like ten different recordings of the same line. It will eat you alive. Record your line maybe 3-4 times at most and let it go.
To me, the secret to being a good voice actor isn’t being able to do a large set of voices; but instead, tone, tone. Everything is all about your tone.
If you remember what I said, most voice lines are casual dialog and conversation. When I voice act, I like to imagine I’m talking to someone but just in that character’s voice, because that’s what’s happening.
Your anger, sadness, joy, anxiousness etc needs to sound very natural just like how you’d express those emotions in real life. If you can control your tone, you’re already a good voice actor.
This is obvious but also pretty important. I do my voice lines outside in a pool house so I’m all alone. You don’t need a fancy mic or some set up like professionals have. All you need is a decent mic and to cut the background noise. If you have to go outside like I do to get those lines go for it.
Voice acting is supposed to be fun and crazy. Although I had previously said not to be too quirky with your lines, when it’s actually time to be quirky, you need to learn to let go. Being as loud and crazy and dramatic as possible.
let go during these moments, and don’t be worried about how you sound or if you come off as “cringe”. That’ll ruin it.
If you are voice acting for someone, communication is everything. Make what you are and are not comfortable with is very clear to the person you are working for off the bat. And don’t let anyone peer pressure you into doing something you aren’t comfortable with.
If whoever you're working for has criticisms, as long as they aren’t being mean and are trying to help out, don’t take it personally!
Voice acting is supposed to be fun, not stressful. Every time I’m about to voice act, I get excited. If you get super stressed or anxious about voice acting, you’re not doing it right.
You’d be surprised how therapeutic voice acting can feel once you let go and allow yourself to have fun, so have fun!
A lot of people I have spoken to who were interested in voicing in SACS thought they needed to be a professional voice actor with a fancy set up to voice act in a passion project web series, you don’t.
If you are passionate and have followed these steps above, you’re already ten steps ahead!